What Makes Prayer Powerful

by Elle Stahlhut Roetzel

What does powerful prayer look like?
Would you feel the earth shake?
Would your enemies fall to the ground?
Would a booming voice come out of heaven saying, “I have heard you. Now step aside as I perform everything that you just asked?”
We all long for our prayers to be powerful and answered, right?

Prayer is actually very simple. It is based not upon a step-by-step formula, but upon a relationship with the Lord. Walking with the Lord is all about your relationship with Him, and prayer should be an extension of that relationship. The Lord is so good that He gave you His Spirit to help you pray. Zechariah 4:6 says, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Powerful prayer is not about you and what you are able to do; it’s about the power that lives inside of you. Connecting to that power and the truth of what Jesus did on the cross is what empowers your prayers. By joining your faith with the Holy Spirit, you will move mountains. Now, that is powerful prayer!

Here are some things that you can incorporate into your prayer life to begin to pray powerful prayers:

  • Believe that He hears your prayers! Psalm 116:1–2 (TPT) says, “I am passionately in love with God because he listens to me. . . . He stoops down to listen to my heart’s cry.” Meditate on this Scripture and declare it over your life, because even when you pray powerful prayers, you may not see anything change immediately or feel anything happen. By faith, though, not by sight, right?
  • Pray from a place of victory of what Christ has already done, not from a place of fear of what may or may not happen. Praying from victory empowers you to pray bold prayers as you agree with what the Word says is possible and has already been completed.
  • Speak truth into your situation. The Lord invites you to pour your heart out to Him. Don’t stop there, though. After casting your cares upon Jesus, stay and listen to His heart. Then begin praying into your situation from His perspective. Jesus did not pray what He saw with His natural eyes; He prayed and released what He saw the Father doing.

As you pray in the authority of Jesus’ name and speak His truth into your situation, peace will begin to flood your heart. As you see things from His perspective, you will not be moved by what you see happening in your situation. Partner with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to breathe powerful prayers through you as you stand in the victory that has already been won.